The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights session in Gambia
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) held its 47th ordinary session last month (12th to 26th May) in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. The session was chaired by Commissioner Reine Alapini Gansou, chairperson of ACHPR, and attended by thirty State Parties, nine National Human Rights Institutions, five International and Inter-Governmental Organizations and forty-one African and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Opening statements were made by Commissioner Reine Alapini Gansou, by Mrs Julia Joiner, Commissioner of the Political Affairs Department of the African Union Commission, and by Mr. Edward Gomez, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Gambia who declared the session officially open.
Commissioner Gansou who spoke of the numerous challenges to the promotion and protection of human rights on the continent, said that peace in Africa required states to adhere to the fundamental principles that make democracy work. Africa, she said, had underlined this by its decisions on the need to get State Parties to adopt the democratic route. She urged State Parties to ratify the Charter on Democracy, Elections, Governance and to implement the AU Decision on ‘Unconstitutional Change of Government’.
Commissioner Julia Joiner noted that the development of human rights in Africa must be a collective effort. She said that human rights activists, who tended to emphasize the role and responsibility of State Parties, should remind themselves that human rights success stories must be based upon building wider ownership and ensuring that the responsibilities and actions are shared across all sectors of societies. Commissioner Joiner said the exercise of rights must also be based on our respect for the rights of others. This would go a long way towards building up the culture of human rights that the various instruments and mechanisms seek to establish.
Minister Gomez noted that the continent had witnessed plenty of unrest in 2010 and this continued to violate the rights of many Africans. He urged the African Commission to continue to work diligently to monitor, promote and protect human rights. He emphasized that true promoters and protectors of human rights should act responsibly and not make misleading and unsubstantiated claims of alleged human rights violations or statements founded on ulterior motives.
During the session, State Delegates made statements on the human rights situations in their respective countries; and national Human Rights Institutions and NGOs spoke on the human rights situation in Africa. Members of the African Commission presented reports of their activities, and of activities undertaken in the context of various special mechanisms of the Commission. The Commission also considered applications for observer status from NGOs, and for affiliate status for the National Human Rights Commission of Mauritania. It discussed and adopted rules of procedure; adopted the concluding observations on the Periodic Reports of Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Rwanda; and adopted several resolutions as well as a final communiqué. One major issue that has not yet been resolved by the Commission is the potential problem it faces with respect to ensuring that the Commission should not be derailed from what should be its major preoccupations because of reliance on finance from entities inclined to support their own agendas. This is something that the AU itself will have to address sooner rather than later.